Michigan Senate Race Intensifies as Stevens Endorses Rogers
With polls closing in 48 hours, Rep. Haley Stevens breaks with the Democratic ticket to support the Republican challenger amid a tight contest.
By Noor Phillips ·
Michigan voters face a decisive choice in two days as the race for a U.S. Senate seat tightens. The contest between Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Republican challenger Gretchen Rogers has become a focal point for the national midterm elections. Both parties are scrambling to hold or flip the seat, with the outcome hinging on a narrow margin of error.
Tensions spiked this week when Rep. Haley Stevens, El-Sayed's former primary opponent, switched her support. Stevens, whom El-Sayed defeated by fewer than 15,000 votes, appeared with Rogers at a church service in Detroit on Sunday. In a video posted to social media, Stevens stated, "I don't belong in Abdul's campaign." Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, responded by calling the move a "despicable betrayal."
The campaign trail has seen sharp exchanges, particularly regarding economic policy and ideological labels. Rogers has repeatedly called El-Sayed a "Democrat Socialist," a label El-Sayed rejects. When asked directly if he was ever a socialist, El-Sayed replied, "No. I'm a capitalist." He is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, nor has the group endorsed him, despite his campaign events featuring other prominent members of the organization.
Rogers also accused El-Sayed of wanting to defund the police. While El-Sayed did use that phrase in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd, he has since described the slogan as "a pretty dumb and unnuanced." During his current Senate run, El-Sayed has advocated for increased funding for police recruitment, retention, and retirement benefits.
Financial claims have also drawn scrutiny. El-Sayed suggested Rogers made $14 million after leaving Congress to buy a mansion and two yachts. Financial disclosures show Rogers' household net worth rose to an estimated $7 million to $14 million or more after his 2015 departure from office. However, that figure represents net worth rather than direct earnings. Records indicate Rogers registered two boats in Maryland, selling one before registering the other, though the specific amounts earned post-office remain unverified by the reporting.
Rogers has also cited a letter El-Sayed wrote in support of the Muslim Brotherhood during the 2012 and 2013 period in Egypt. El-Sayed was one of 46 Egyptian-Americans who signed a letter addressed to President Mohamed Morsi, a senior leader of the group. At the time, the U.S. had not designated the organization as a terrorist entity, a status the Trump administration assigned to certain branches of the group earlier this year. El-Sayed has publicly disavowed any ties to the Brotherhood, emphasizing that the letter was a call for action against former authoritarian allies.
El-Sayed pointed to local utility DTE as an example of corporate influence in state politics. He claimed the company buys off almost every politician in the state while raising rates faster than in 46 other states over the past two decades. Public records show DTE and its political action committee have made extensive contributions to a large majority of state legislators, though no evidence of improper payments in exchange for votes or regulatory decisions was found in the recent reporting.
